Under Falling Rain
by melisuhh.OSNAP
Summary: [AU] I love walking in the rain,'cause then no one knows I'm crying.[YuffieAxel][Yuxel]
1. Under The Stars

**Summary: **AU "I love walking in the **rain**, 'cause then no-one knows I'm crying."

Under Falling Rain

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Chapter 1

_Under the Stars_

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"_Waiting on forever and always."_

_----_

Yuffie Kisaragi slammed her fist on the oaken desk that lay in front of her. "Leon! Get off the computer! You've been on it all day!" Yuffie crossed her arms over her chest and puffed out her cheeks. She has short black hair that goes a little below her chin and curves in along with deep chocolate brown eyes. She wore a baby blue shirt with knee long black shorts and knee high boots that tied around her legs.

"Alright already, are you that eager to talk to _him?_" Leon joked, laughing lightly. A small growl emitted from her throat. "Fine, have it your way." He stood up and walked out of the room with his hands behind his head. "Brat."

"I heard that!" she screamed back at her brother. But she received no answer or sarcastic remark.

The computer screen flashed in front of her as her fingers glided across the keys. Every few seconds you would hear a _beep _or a _buzz_ come back at her. A grin creped on her face.

**YuffiexNinja: **Hiya!

**Axis Axel: **Dumb as ever I see. : p

**YuffiexNinja: **Thanks.

**YuffiexNinja: **What did my brother tell you this time?

**Axis Axel: **The usual. : )

**YuffiexNinja: **…

**YuffiexNinja: **C'mon tell me! I've known you for three years now!

**Axis Axel: **And?

**YuffiexNinja: **You suck!

"Yuffie! Tifa is here!" Leon yelled to her from downstairs. She didn't even hear the doorbell ring. "You _might_ want to come down!"

**YuffiexNinja: **Be right back. Tifa is here.

**Axis Axel: **Ok. He he.

**YuffiexNinja: **_I am away and gone forever! I'm lost in playing video games or hanging out with friends…since I have some! Unlike some people--Axel._

**Axis Axel: **…We'll see about that.

----

"Tifa!" Yuffie smiled at her, but not before glaring at her brother who stood watching them. He snorted then walked away and upstairs to his room. Tifa has mid-length dark brown hair with dark brown eyes that look almost black. She wore loose black pants and a white tank top. Small black boots wrapped around her ankle and below tying in front.

They made their way upstairs and into Yuffie's room. Tifa took a seat on the computer chair and leaned back. Yuffie sat diagonal from her on her bed.

"I came here to ask you if you wanted to go shopping with Aerith, Cloud, Reno and me tomorrow? It's one week until summer ends so I decided we needed to get out more." Tifa winked.

"Sounds great!" Yuffie laid down on her bed and looked up at the ceiling. Her thoughts led her else where ignoring the chit-chat of Tifa.

"Yuffie, are you listening to me?" Tifa asked annoyed.

"Huh?" Knowing what Tifa just said she shot up and rubbed the back of her head nervously. Tifa ignored her and turned toward the computer screen. She clicked around on a few websites and downloaded some videos.

"Whose _Axis Axel_?" she inquired. She had Yuffie's full attention now. "Hel-lo," she mouthed out loud.

"Tifa! Don't talk to him! He's an idiot!" Yuffie was fuming with what seemed to be anger, but since it was coming from her no one could usually tell her moods.

**YuffiexNinja: **She called you an idiot.

**Axis Axel: **Really, huh? Thanks for the information. : )

"Ah!" screamed Tifa as Yuffie tackled her to the ground. They threw punch after punch at each other trying to see who would give in first.

**Axis Axel: **Don't worry…She didn't tell me a thing.

**Axis Axel: **Axis Axel Signed off

"Now he got off," Yuffie complained as she got off of Tifa. She crossed her arms over her chest and flopped down on her bed.

Tifa brushed herself off and walked over to the door. Without looking back she spoke a few words. "See you tomorrow, lazy." Her figure faded down the hallway and Yuffie could hear as she walked down the stairs and out the door. The house became quiet once again and the only noise that could be heard was the snoring of her brother Leon in the room next to hers. She sighed heavily and turned on her back.

It's been seven years since her parents died in a car crash. She was nine at the time and her brother was eleven. All she could remember from that night was getting a call in the middle of the night and hearing a hoarse voice on the other line say "sorry, they didn't make it." Being to little to understand what was going on, she ran upstairs and woke up her brother. After a few minutes of him nodding his head and saying yes he hung up the phone.

"Sis," he had said in a low voice where she could barely hear him. "Our parents…are dead." She saw a small tear roll down her brothers cheek, even if it was only for a second. That was the first, and the last, time she ever saw her brother cry. And not to long after she found herself bawling into her brothers arms as well.

The night after that they were taken to their aunts house to live, which was the only remaining family they had left. They lived with her until she died when Leon was sixteen and Yuffie was fourteen. After that Leon decided to buy a house of their own and pay for it using the money they had saved up in the bank all these years. Most of it came from bonds that their mother had saved for them for college. But, they had enough to last a long time. Ever since then they had to cope on their own.

A loud ringing from the computer woke her from her reverie. _Axis Axel signed on_ appeared across the bottom of the screen in bold blue and black colors. She typed in a quick _hey_ but received no answer. The screen flashed again and said _Axis Axel signed off._

_I wonder if he's mad at me?_ she thought. She clicked on Shutdown and headed over to her bed where she collapsed in seconds.

----

The bright colors of white and a cream colored yellow stirred Yuffie in her sleep. Her brown eyes opened, shimmering in the morning glow that appeared through her window. She rubbed her sleepy eyes and sat up. Once her vision adjusted she scanned her room.

"Leon!" her voice growled as she saw him typing away on her computer. "Get out! I need to get dressed." Her voice started to fade away.

"Sheesh, calm down," he said irritably. He was just as bad as a morning person as she was.

"Out!"

He turned around and a large fluffy pillow collided with his face. Feathers flew out and fell from above, covering him completely. He opened his eyes and suppressed a growl.

"Sorry!" He ignored her attempt at apologizing and left the room. "Cranky…" She shut her door and headed over to the computer for her daily talk. She signed on aim and looked for Axis Axel. Once again he wasn't on. She sighed and gazed up at the ceiling letting her thoughts take her away. A place better left alone. _Axel…I hope you're ok…_

_"I hate everything about you so why do I love you." _

"My phone?" She picked up her cell phone on her desk and checked who was calling. "Hey Tifa. Yeah the mall I got it…What? Now? I'm not even…Ok, ok I get it…No, I'm good. Bye."

----

Yuffie threw her head back in laughter. In front of her stood Cloud carrying all the shopping bags. He looked annoyed, and Reno laughing next to him didn't make things any simpler.

"Keep laughing, I dare you," Cloud mumbled to Reno.

"You're just jealous that I don't get stuck looking like an idiot." He grinned.

Yuffie looked away for a second admiring the scenery around her. It was rare that her brother would let her out of the house. He was really protective of her, whether he admitted it or not. The neighborhood they lived in wasn't a particularly bad one, but quite a few weird things have happened. Especially when Roxas and Sora ran around naked. But that was a different story.

_Weird…Axel. I've known him for so long, but whenever something's wrong he stays offline and never tells me why when he gets back on._

"Yuffie…snap out of it," Aerith said between laughs. Yuffie was confused on why she was laughing, but didn't regret wondering when she looked over at Reno and Cloud. Reno was now carrying a load of bags as well, leaving Cloud as free as a bird. She couldn't help but laugh at the sight.

After having a good laugh everyone decided to get a bite to eat. Reno and Cloud stood talking, or rather fighting, at the table while Yuffie and the others sat down and talked about random things.

"So, Yuffie, whose this Axel guy?" Tifa inquires, smiling gently.

Startled at the question, she almost fell out of her chair due to shock. "J-just an old friend." Her eyes darted to the ground refusing to meet the intent gaze of Tifa that was on her.

"Oh, hiding something from us?" Aerith questioned.

"_Friend_?"

"Close _friend_?"

"Lover? Boyfriend?"

Yuffie blushed and threw her hands up frantically in the air waving off their ideas. "No, no, nothing like that. Just a friend." For some reason she regretted saying that, though she just couldn't point out why.

"Then what?" Aerith asked, winking.

She slouched down in her chair and stretched out her arms. "Nothing! But oh, Tifa. Got the hots for Cloud?"

"Or is it Leon?" Aerith asked stifling a laugh.

"My brother! Ugh, disgusting! Who could like him!" She gagged at the thought of seeing those two together. Heck, she gagged at the thought of anyone being with her brother.

"I can't believe we have to go back to school in another week," Tifa complained resting her chin on her hand and using her elbow as support. "The hell hole never leaves."

The subject quickly faded with a nod from Yuffie and Aerith. The sun was starting to set in the sky and people were quickly filtering out of the mall. The small group decided to hang out again another day and departed.

"Later guys, see you Saturday at the party!" Tifa and Aerith exited along with Cloud and Reno snickering at each other. Why? She didn't even want to know that answer.

----

She got home around eight and headed straight up to her room where she usually was. She wanted to head online and see if Axel was on, but didn't even give it a second thought when her heart knew he wouldn't be on.

"Sis!" called Leon from outside her room. "I'm coming in." He opened the door and took a seat on her computer chair.

"I didn't give you permission to come into my room!"

"Are you having a fight with Axel again? You're extra pissed today."

"What! What are you talking about!" she fumed.

He ignored her and typed away at the keyboard. After calming down a bit she looked over his shoulder and checked to see what he was doing.

**BlackClaws17: **Hey.

_Axis Axel is not currently signed on._

"He hasn't been on at all lately."

"If you're that worried maybe you should meet him," he suggested. "Ever thought about that?"

She thought for a second then quickly pushed the thought from her mind. "No, and I never will…" Leon looked back at her with troubled eyes, but said nothing and left.

_What's going on…?_Yuffie asked herself. _Why do I feel so troubled? _She pushed her bangs out of her eyes and stretched out on her bed. _Meet him…no I couldn't. It could ruin everything to a friendship we ever had…_

"This sucks!" she yelled out to no one in particular.

"Shut up, normal people are trying to sleep!"

"Yeah…" _Whatever…_ She turned over on her side and shut her eyes. _It doesn't matter…_

----

Short Chapter, others will be longer. The end of the next chapter is when the story really begins. So you know they start off as really good friends so it seems like I'm taking things fast, but…I'm not. I hope.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything except for the storyline…how I wish I owned more.

_It all beings with a simple hello. On how the meeting of Axel and Yuffie online all began. And the meeting in real life is starting to hit Yuffie more then ever before is she wants to fix whats wrong._

**Chapter 2: **_Cloaked in Black_


	2. Cloaked In Black

Chapter 2

_Cloaked in Black_

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"_Hidden amongst the shadows is the heart you left behind."_

----

"Wait, what party?" Yuffie asked confused. She removed the phone away from her ear as she could hear Riku and Sora screaming at each other on the other side and Kairi yelling at them in the background.

It amused her.

Aerith laughed. "Sorry, it's just to funny." She gained her composure back. "What was I saying again?"

Yuffie coughed. "I don't know. You called me." A loud bang was heard coming from the other side. Yuffie cringed and once again put the phone away from her ear. She could only imagine what was going on, and yet, she doubted she wanted to know.

"Ah! Hey, Yuffie? I'll call you back in a few minutes." Before she could even reply the other phone clicked off.

"Sounds like their having fun."

The house became quiet once again. She sat down on her computer chair and signed on to her e-mail account. _I haven't checked you in a while…_ _You have 1 Unread message,_ she read to herself. It was from Axel.

**To: **YuffiexNinja

**From**: Axis Axel

Since I know you're worried that I haven't been on I'm leaving you this message to clarify why. I've been sick lately and I have to go to the doctors tomorrow. I probably won't be on.

-Axel

_He sent that yesterday…_

"That idiot!" she yelled out loud. Anger was filling her as she thought more and more about it. He could have told her, but no. But what really made her mad is that he wouldn't tell her why he had to go to the doctors. A few months ago he did the same thing which left her mad for the next few days. When it came to him he would never tell anyone, not even her, the one he trusted most. He always kept to himself and at times he could act like he had no heart.

_Heh, no heart…that's not even possible…_

She leaned back in her chair and prompt her foot on the desk trying to get comfy.

"Yuffie." Leon appeared by her door.

"What, Leon?" she grunted.

"I have a message for you."

She lifted an eyebrow at him. "From who?"

"Ax--"

_"You hate everything about me so why do I love you."_

"Ah, where is it?" She waves him off. "Get back to me on that message."

She searched for her phone in her many pockets until her fingers came upon a gum wrapper. She tossed it to the side until she found her cell phone in her side pocket. She flipped it open and answered with a muffled hello.

"Aerith…yeah, It's Yuffie! It's my cell phone…I know…what did you want to ask me?" Yuffie started to laugh as Aerith told her why she hung up with her earlier. It seems that Sora sat on Riku and wouldn't get up until he called Cid and asked him for a date in a girly voice. Which in the end ended up in Riku calling and Cid swearing him out until Riku pushed Sora off of him and they got into a fist fight.

"Same old, same old…"

"I wanted to know if you would come to the party me and Tifa are holding. More like a hangout day."

Yuffie paused her answer so she could hear Kairi being pulled into the fight.

"Yuffie?"

She shook her head and blocked the background entertainment out. "Yeah! Count me in! Yuffie the party girl!"

She giggled. "Good. Tell Tifa that you're coming--" The phone either cut off the call or someone pulled out the phone cord again. It always seems to happen when you get those four in a room together. Yuffie smiled to herself thinking about all the fun times she's had with them.

"Hey, Leon, I'm heading outside to take a walk! Don't miss me to much!" She heard a muffled laugh from Leon in the other room. She took that as a "ok have fun" and left.

Light rain poured down soaking everything with its simple touch. Puddles of mud were already forming in the grass from the constant falling drops of water.

Yuffie looked up into the rain and closed her eyes, as if it relaxed her. She could hear the tapping of the rain on the cement as it made a sound that calmed her worried nerves. She looked down at the ground and continued out of her driveway and onto the sidewalk walking around aimlessly. Her raincoat kept her covered from the tiny droplets that were around her.

No matter how strong, outgoing, or happy she always seemed to be something kept her from _truly _being those things. She believed it was because she worried about Axel to much. Compared to three years ago…

Axel was nice, sarcastic, and sort of mean at times. But she couldn't see him any other way. In her view, though, he lacked compassion for other things such as humans and animals. He always seemed so cold when someone got hurt or even died. One time he told Yuffie that this one girl asked him out and he denied it coldly. Well, she thought he said it coldly, he thought he said it just fine. He even told her once that he didn't have a heart. He was a person who could tell anyone anything without feeling pity or regret. She scolded him for it and said "stop saying such fake things." And he did.

But what worried her the most about him was the fact that he was always going to the doctors. He never gave her any explanations or anything. He just went and when she asked about it he said he was fine and made a joke to lighten the mood. But she figured he was just avoiding the subject.

"I wonder…what he's hiding." Yuffie sighed and took a seat on the ground, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning her back against the white fence behind her. She wrapped her coat around her to keep the cold rain off of her. She was shivering from the sudden outburst of cold air that blew about. Yuffie hugged her legs up against her chest and laid her head down on the surface of her knees.

The rain was falling even harder now.

_I remember when I first met him…Even then the rain was falling, just like it is now…_

----

_"Homework sucks," she thought out loud as she typed away on the keyboard. She has been on the computer for hours working on her History project without a break. It was raining heavily outside and the weather didn't permit for her to be with friends. In her opinion, today jus sucked._

_A grin appeared across her face. "No one will ever know…" The arrow on the screen moved towards _chat rooms_ and clicked it. As the screen loaded she put up Google and acted like she was working on her project._

_"Yuffie, are you done yet?" Leon asked in a bored tone. "I need to get on."_

_"And talk to your friends? Wait, I'm doing my project! Get a life!" His face remained expressionless as he left the room._

_"And secretly talk in a chat room without you finding out," she added. The chat room was called _Nonsense. _She figured it was for random talking._

_**YuffiexNinja: **Hey!_

_Her eyes scanned the screen looking to see who was in the chat room. "Only one guy? How lame." The computer screen beeped and a message appeared in reply._

_**Axis Axel: **Hi._

_She smiled and looked up from the screen. After making sure no one was around she started to talk to him. Many noises were coming at her as the two continued talking for hours on end._

_**YuffiexNinja: **Final Fantasy games rock! You suck for hating them! p_

_**Axis Axel: ** Tekken beats RPG games. Killing. )_

_**YuffiexNinja: **Guys…are…stupid!_

_**Axis Axel: ** And girls are any better? They complain to much…_

_**YuffiexNinja: **Sexist, Sexist! _

_"Yuffie, get off!" yelled her brother as he entered the room with his arms crossed over his chest and a angered look across his face. She quickly minimized the chat and turned around in her chair._

_"In a few, let me print first!" she whined._

_"That's the excuse you used an hour ago," he said simply._

_"I'm serious this time! I swear!"_

_"…"_

_"Come on Leon, you know you love me!"_

_He rolled his eyes at her last words but did nothing more. "Fine, hurry up." _

_**YuffiexNinja: **I got to go! You better be on later!_

_**Axis Axel: **Maybe._

_**YuffiexNinja: **Good! _

_**YuffiexNinja: **(YuffiexNinja Signed off)_

----

"Ever since then I started to sneak on, until I got caught." She stood up brushed the mud off the back of her coat. "Even back then me and my brother never got along…my brother!" She slapped her forehead. "He wanted to tell me something!" She reached for her phone with haste and dialed his number. It kept ringing till his answering machine came up.

_This is Leon leave a message…unless it's you Yuffie._

"You are stupid and an idiot! Answer your phone!" She hung up and put it into her coat pocket. "I better head home." The happiness in her voice left to one filled with sadness mixed with anger.

"I really need to stop talking to myself."

Even after all this time she's been out the rain never subsided. It fell as heavy as before, and Yuffie decided it best to head home. She passed many houses on her long trek home, she sometimes wondered why she wandered off so far on her own. Yet, her legs had a mind of their own, so most of the time she never bothered to ask herself that question.

"Oh, hey, It's Tifa's house!" She hit herself on the head. "I got to tell Tifa I'm coming to her hang out thing!" She walked up to the oaken, blue painted door and curled her fingers up into a fist. She pounded on the door lightly and then louder and louder until Tifa came running to answer the door.

"Hey! Tifa!"

"Yes?"

"Can I come in? It's kind of wet out here," she smiled weakly.

"No, I thought it was dry and humid," she spoke dryly. Yuffie puffed her cheeks out and held a defiant stance. "Come on, unless you want to stay outside." She held back a smile that was trying to form on her lips. Her mouth curved upward.

Yuffie stuck her tongue out at her and ignored the glare she was receiving from her idiotic and childish act.

"What were you doing out in the rain anyway?" Tifa asked as they headed into the living room. She took Yuffie's coat and hung it up in the closet to dry off. Drops of water fell off of it and onto the wooden floor below. Tifa ignored it and went over to where Yuffie sat.

"Oh, I want a lollipop!" She bent over the couch and picked up a lollipop and unwrapped it delicately making sure not to leave any marks on the delicious treat and popped it into her mouth.

"You act like such a child, you know that?"

"Thamnks!" her muffled thanks came out. They sat in silence while Yuffie happily sucked on her lollipop. She was easily amused, even something so simple as a sucker could keep her occupied for hours. It was sad, really.

"Why were you outside in this weather anyway…something about Axel?" Tifa winked and started to laugh.

Yuffie resisted the urge to spit her sucker out. Instead she waved her hands frantically around and fell back on to the couch. She now held the sucker between her two fingers, gasping for air. "What was…that for!" She now sat up demanding an answer from her friend who had her hands over her lips to keep from laughing.

"Y-yuff…ie," Tifa managed to breathe until she burst out into laughing, not being able to hold it in.

She crossed her arms. "I'm glad you enjoyed that." She popped the lollipop back into her mouth.

After everything quieted down Tifa spoke once again. "Axel--"

_"Stand my ground I wont give, no more denying, I got to face it."_

She checked to see who was calling her. A picture of her brother with black eye liner and spiked hair appeared on her screen. She remembered when that picture was taken. It was at Roxas's birthday party last year. Resisting the urge to laugh, she answered. "Leon!"

"Did you get the message I left you?" he asked, worry evident in his voice.

"What message?" she asked confused.

"Never mind! It doesn't matter now. Just head to the park, and hurry."

"W-what? Why?" None of this was making any sense to her. She feared something might have happened to him, or worse--Axel. "Does it have to do with--"

A loud violent cough was heard on the line.

"Are you ok!"

"Yeah, now go to the park. Axel…wanted me to tell you to meet him there."

"But…why…?" she whispered quietly to herself.

Another cough was heard before the line clicked off. She hurriedly got her things together and bolted not bothering to call Leon back. She ran out the door telling Tifa "I'm going home, I'll call you later."

Tifa stood on her doorstep watching as Yuffie ran the opposite way from her house. "Yeah, I never knew your house was the opposite way it usually is!" She sighed and shut the door behind her. Like usual, she was worried about Yuffie, yet she knew that when that girl made up her mind she wouldn't change it no matter what.

The cold breeze blew in her face blowing the strands of her black hair behind her. Mud and grass stained her shoes as she ran through mud-filled yards. The rain was still falling as heavy as before and it didn't seem that it was going to let up.

_Axel…why now? Is something wrong…?_

As the park came into view she slowed down to a walk, ignoring the fact that she looked completely and utterly horrible. Mud ran down her legs mixed with strips of grass and her clothes were soaking wet from the heavy rain that fell around as she made her way to the park.

Ignoring her looks, she took a seat on a nearby bench, resting her weary body. Right now she didn't care how she looked, or anything of that matter. All she wanted was to see Axel. It had to be urgent if he wanted to come visit her on such short notice like this. They talked about meeting before, but always decided that it could ruin their friendship and kept it in the back of their minds. She wondered why he wanted to meet her all of a sudden.

_It has to be…important…but, it can't be good…can it?_

She brought her hands up to her face and stared at their muddy texture, hoping the rain would wash the excess mud off.

So many thoughts clouded her mind she couldn't even think straight. This whole thing came to her as a surprise, and it came so quickly that she couldn't adjust to what was happening fast enough.

The squishing of mud could be heard from in front of her. She lowered her hands and looked in front of her. Through the rain and mud she could barely make out a black figure cloaked in some kind of black shirt and dark blue pants approaching her.

"A-Axel?"

----

Chapter 2 finally done! Hope you enjoyed. And yes, they finally meet in Chapter 3. But all meetings don't have a happy beginning. Romance to come…with all that dramatic sappy stuff in between… : )

**Chapter 3**: Raindrops

_They meet, they're happy. But Axels' acting a little strange. Can Yuffie mend something that has always been broken? Will she even dare try when she doesn't know her own feelings?_


	3. Raindrops

Chapter 3

_Raindrops_

----

"_There's **no** turning back now, let's move _forward_ to find something new, _**t o g e t h e r**_."_

_----_

**"A**-Axel?" Yuffie breathed.

The tall, skinny figure turned around to meet her eye to eye. He had shoulder length red hair that spiked out, not up, with deep sea-green eyes that seemed to stare into your soul if you looked into them long enough. Yuffie examined him a little more, but couldn't tell if it was him or not. She has never seen a picture of him or anything of the sort so this was all new to her. Noticing that the guy must have thought she was nuts while she stared at him, she blushed and turned her head.

"Axel?" she asked again. After receiving no answer she rubbed the back of her head nervously, messing up her wet hair in the process. "Sorry! Wrong guy!" Getting up to walk away she felt a warm hand placed on her shoulder. She swiftly turned back around.

"Yuffie?" the man asked, surprise and worry entering his voice . His expression changed little despite the fact that he sounded worried. His face didn't show it. Or maybe it was the other way around? She couldn't tell, but nonetheless she was happy just to see him.

"Axel!" He spread his arms out as she ran in for a hug. "You're okay! I thought something was wrong when Leon told me you wanted to meet me!" She looked up into his eyes while a smile crept across her face. "Um…" She blushed as she noticed she was still in his arms. She quickly disengaged from them and stepped back a few feet.

He blinked.

"Wow, you're handsome." He stepped back. "It's a compliment." She went back over to him and took a lock of his hair between her fingers. "Did you dye your hair red?"

"No…it's my natural color." His expression changed. He could feel a smile forming on his lips.

"Oh…" She shivered, it was getting colder out by the second as day turned into night. Axel took off his black cloak and wrapped it around her to keep her warm. "Thanks."

They both stood their in the silence forgetting the fact that the cold rain was still falling and the cool crisp breeze still hung about the area. She didn't know why, but for some reason she felt safe when she was around him. Like she could take on anything. But she just couldn't point out why. It bugged her.

She looked up to see Axel staring off into the distance. His eyes held fear. She shook him. "Hey, Axel?"

He looked down at her, a sad expression on his face.

"What did you want to tell me?" She could tell his body tightened at her abrupt question.

"Let's talk about that…" His voice faded away and she saw him look off into the distance again. Yuffie listened and could hear giggling coming from the bush. She stomped over there, clearly angry.

"Roxas, Sora, Riku, you're caught and dead!" she yelled. She jumped into the bushes and pulled the three teenage boys out. They look amused, but a little scared as well. "Were you listening in on us?"

They stood, not moving an inch. Yuffie shook them a bit until they nodded their heads in a scared fashion. She knew it. They had dirt on her and could get her back for all the things she did to them. What she did, now that was best left for another time.

"Riiiku! Sooorra! Roooxas!" She bolted around the park chasing the three, Axel's cloak fell to the ground before she took off. It lay soaked in mud.

----

Yuffie sat with her arms crossed over her chest and her legs flattened out on the couch. She rested her head on the soft black pillow and let her surroundings take her away. Axel sat on the other side of her staring off blankly into his own little world. He rested his head on his palm, a calm expression spread across his face.

"Yuffie," called an agitated voice. Unfortunately for her, it was her brother. Like usual, he ruined the moment.

"What?" she asked dryly. "I'm getting my beauty sleep."

She could hear him snort. She swore she heard him say "what beauty sleep?" But left it at that. "What!" Her eyes narrowed at her brother who was looking over at Axel. The two nodded at each other and faced her with serious expressions.

"What…is there something on my face?"

"Putting it quite bluntly…yes. You're getting the couch muddy, go get dressed before you ruin the whole house due to your incompetents." She wanted to make a rude comment back, but decided against it due to the fact that he was right. Instead she just stuck out her tongue. She was muddy, soaked, and her clothes were stained with grass marks, broadly put, she was completely and utterly _filthy_. Groaning, she made her way upstairs and into her room where she took a quick shower allowing herself to become clean.

"Why am I…so sad…depressed…" Yuffie asked herself as she looked at her image in the mirror. Her eyes were drooping and she became dispirited by her image. Usually you would see her jumping around with joy and being as sly and as sneaking as a thief. But lately…that just wasn't her.

"Perk up, Yuffie! You can't show weakness, not now!" A grin appeared across her face. For the first time in a while she was going to be, oh what was the word…mischievous. Oh yes, she had a plan.

She quickly dressed into blue jeans and a flowery tank top laced with blue lining around the edges. Taking a seat on her computer chair she logged onto her brothers AIM account.

"Good, Riku's on. Just the guy I need to talk to…he owes me anyway."

**BlackClaws17**: Riku, it's Yuffie. I need you to dig up some dirt on Axel and Leon for me. Got anything?

She smiled to herself. She was good at getting info on people. Riku was a genius when it came to gossip, he knew practically everything you wanted to know, which helped her out in the long run. The best thing about it all was that she introduced Axel to Riku a few years back. Those two were practically best friends along with Roxas and Sora. He knew almost _everything_ about him, and he was good friends with her brother as well.

It all adds up.

**Cold Ice6**: Dirt? I got tons. : ) What do you need to know?

**BlackClaws17**: First of all, why did Axel want to meet me all of a sudden?

Yuffie leaned back in her chair as Riku typed away an answer for her on his keyboard. This was one question that she needed to know the answer to. Ever since he arrived he hasn't told her a thing, even though his main priority was to meet her to tell her something of great importance.

_Important my ass…_

**Cold Ice6**: Dunno.He never even informed me that he was going to meet with you. It must have been urgent.

**BlackClaws17**: Oh. Well…

**Cold Ice6**: Say, Yuffie…do you happen to _like_ Axel?

**BlackClaws17**: What! Of course not! Only YOU could come up with such a stupid idea! He's like a walking statue!

Her heart was still pounding. That question was uncalled for, and caught her off guard.

"Where would he ever get _that_ idea?" She was surprised and furious at the same time, heck, she didn't know what to think. The only thought that passed through her mind was to kill Riku.

_Note to self: Kill Riku._

**Cold Ice6**: I'll tell him that.

**Cold Ice6**: Another thing. I was talking to Axel sometime last week and he mentioned some girl. The girl he mentioned sounded a lot like you. Especially the part when he said she was a little crazy.

**BlackClaws17**: Hey! I'm crazy and proud!

**Cold Ice6**: Oh, and about Leon. He won't tell me much, but I know that he knows something about Axel. Something of dire importance.

**Cold Ice6**: I digress. Anything else?

She sunk in her chair as she re-read the what Riku just typed to her. _Another girl…dire importance…_Her thoughts were interrupted by her growling stomach.

**BlackClaws17**: Nope. I got to go. I'm hungry! Mm, a sucker sounds good. Candy: )

**Cold Ice6**: Later. Don't get fat! ; )

Ignoring his comment, she tip-toed quietly down the stairs trying not to disturb the two idiots she called her friends. Turning around the corner she saw Leon putting his coat on and heading out the door.

"Where are you going?" she questioned her older brother giving him a quizzical look. Her eyes flew from his head to his toes noticing that he was wearing clean, fancy clothing that you would only see him wear on really rare occasions. "All dressed up?"

"I'm going out with my girlfriend tonight," he stated, then looked over at Yuffie. "Since I have one."

"Shut up! And Rinoa? I thought she dumped you a while ago."

"Where'd you hear that from?" he asked suspiciously.

"No where," she chimed, then giggled. "I though she would have dumped you by now. Man of ice." Leon walked out to door, resisting the urge to get into a fight with her. But he knew, more then anyone else, that she was joking. But, he believed that Yuffie and Axel needed some…alone time. He knew about her sister's feelings before she did.

"Great…he left," she groaned, falling back onto the sofa to relax. Without warning, Axel came to sit down next to her.

"Hey, what's up, you seem sad?" Yuffie asked, tilting her head to the side, looking up into his soft eyes. For some reason, she didn't seem embarrassed, she felt comfortable just looking into his turquoise eyes.

"Hmm." Yuffie thought, making Axel glance over at her. She crossed her legs and stared up at him.

"What did you want to tell me?" He made no movement or sign that he would answer her. Getting bored, Yuffie scooted over and rested her feet on the table, leaning her head back and closing her eyes.

Axel was ignoring her, just like she thought, meeting would ruin their friendship. He wouldn't even look her in the eyes without turning away. He seemed…_different_. Even if he was like a walking statue with his face only holding one emotion, he was never so bad. Online he would always try to make a conversation, try to cheer her up if she was down, the key word _try_. But he was never like this.

_I knew this was a bad idea._

"Eh…" Yuffie looked to the side of her and noticed something she didn't see before. Something very…surprising. Looking at her, and sitting very close to her, was Axel. Feeling a little uncomfortable, she moved over a little bit, then looking up at him, worry in her eyes.

"Something wrong--" Her voice cut out as Axel moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her sides, embracing her into a hug. She was lost for words, and so surprised that she didn't move to hug him back.

She was still stunned until the doorbell brought her back to reality. By that time Axel was on the other side of the couch with a different look on his face, a sad one. "Axel I'm…" Still lost for words, she sighed and answered the door.

"Tifa--ugh," Yuffie cried as Tifa ran past her to Axel, along with Cloud, Reno, Riku, Aerith, Roxas, and Sora. The whole gang was here now.

"Hi…to you to," she managed to get out between breaths.

"Oh, hey Yuffie." Aerith smiled. "Cloud, Reno, say hi."

"You're just jealous that I'm cooler than you," Reno laughed, smirking in the process. "And that I get all the ladies."

"Who _isn't _cooler then you is the question."

"W-what? You little-" Reno turned his head from side to side. "Aw, shit."

In a way, she was kind of glad they came when they did. Otherwise, she didn't know how she would handle herself after Axel's sudden advancement. "It was only…a hug…what am _I_ talking about…" she whispered to herself.

"So your Axel," said Tifa. "Hmm, nice…uh huh, now I know why Yuffie picked you." Yuffie blushed and walked over to Riku, trying to get away from all the attention that her friends were giving her and Axel.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered to him.

He only smiled, not saying another word.

_Thanks, that answered all my questions_, she thought sarcastically. She watched as Sora and Roxas wrestled with each other, guessing it was another one of those bets they make. Whenever they fight they always make a bet, for whoever wins get to make the other person do whatever they say. Last time that happened Sora had to go to school in his boxers. Forgetting the fact on how many times he got hit on, it was pretty funny.

"Yuffie, aren't you going to invite him to the hangout?" asked Tifa, winking at her.

"Wait? Isn't that your job?" she asked defensively, freaking out. Axel looked over at her in the distance, his lips forming into a smile. This was the Yuffie he knew. The one that was _always_ smiling, the crazy hyperactive girl.

Yuffie could feel someone gazing at her from behind, whirling around she was Axel staring at her. Acting like she didn't notice him, she scanned the room making it seem as if she was looking at everyone else.

After finally getting a break, since before everyone was asking her questions about Axel, she headed to her room for a quick break. She felt exhausted, running around, answering so many questions about Axel that she didn't even know. Half the time she guessed and hoped he would never find out about what she said.

_Heh…heh…_

After finally getting a break, since before everyone was asking her questions about Axel, she headed to her room for a quick break.

"Yuffie…" Axel called from the bottom of the stairs. She turned around,glancing down at him. Her heart started to beat faster at the thought. She could only imagine what he wanted to ask…

He came up to her and held her chin up, staring into her chocolate brown eyes.

"I have to tell you a secret someday…" He walked away and Yuffie could only watch as he disappeared from her sight.

"A...secret…?"

----

Chapter 3 done and finished. I had such a hard time writing this, stuff like this is not my forte. The real story beings in the next chapter, oh how drama begins when friends hang out. All of them. A certain someone also likes Yuffie, but will he be willing to let Axel and Yuffie keep going as they are?

**Chapter 4: **Lost Wings

_Can we go on living as we are now and act like nothing is wrong when the whole world is against us? Is it even possible to say yes to one without hurting the other? No, but that's just one of life's challenges._


	4. Lost Wings

Chapter 4

_Lost Wings_

----

"I was looking for a way to **a v o i d** it all, the pain, the misery, and the sorrow. But I didn't notice _you_ were looking too."

----

"Riku, I don't know what to do," Yuffie said with an exasperated sigh. "I feel horrible, but there has to be something." It was Saturday, the day of the party. After Axel left that day a few days ago she couldn't even speak to him, and she didn't. He wasn't online and when she called he never returned them. It was like he was avoiding her. The sad part, she didn't even know why. Unless it had to do with that hug…but that was something left in the past.

"Snap out of it." Riku snapped his fingers in front of her face releasing her from her reverie. "If it's bothering you that much why don't you just go talk to him."

"That's the problem! I don't know how!"

"The little party hang out thing is later today, why don't you make amends with him then?" Riku suggested.

"…That's not a bad idea! You're a genius Riku!" She got up and hugged him, or rather squeezed him tight. "Man, I love you!" He blushed at her last comment, but she didn't seem to notice when she pulled away with a thoughtful look on her face.

"No problem, see you then." He waved and left, leaving her alone to get ready and prep herself for tonight. Since it was one of those party hangouts she could only imagine what Tifa would be doing to set up. Last time they had one of these Cloud snuck beer into the fruit punch. Everyone was so drunk by the end of the night they all ended up staying at her house so they wouldn't get caught. Cloud found it as a little joke but she thought it was going a little to far.

She decided to get dressed and take her mind off all her worries.

"Yuffie, wait." Riku popped back into her room. "I wanted to tell you-"

"RIKU! Get OUT!" Yuffie screamed and shut the door on his face. "I'm getting dressed! You pervert!"

"Sorry," he mumbled, clearly afraid of her.

She sighed but quickly got dressed into short jeans shorts and a regular T-shirt. Nothing special, just something to keep her comfortable.

"What did you want?" she asked him opening the door.

"I just wanted to ask you something…" his voice held disappointment. "But never mind."

She shrugged her shoulders at him and walked downstairs with Riku following closely behind.

"Leon, let's get ready to go." Yuffie grinned at her brother. "Stop talking to Rinoa on the phone. You've been on it for hours and I need to call Tifa."

"Use your cell phone," he growled.

"No minutes."

"Use mine."

"It's dead."

"Fine."

Yuffie smiled to herself and waited for her brother to say his tearful goodbye. "Here." And with that said she grabbed the phone from his grasp and dialed Tifa's number.

"What's up, Riku?" Leon asked Riku who was staring down at the ground with his body leaning against the wall. He didn't look up at the call of his name, but he did fidget and move to the side a little.

"Nothing." He looked over at Yuffie and then quickly tilted his head up. "Really."

"You like my sister don't you?" he asked plainly with no emotions in his voice. He saw Riku nod. "Don't bother with her." Leon flipped his hair back and out of his eyes.

"Why?" He finally looked up.

"Just don't. You can already tell her heart's taken by someone else."

"Who?" Riku looked up into Leon's eyes hoping for some kind of comfort, but nothing was there except his cold dark orbs. "Leon?" Without even daring to answer him he walked away and over to Yuffie. He nudged her on the shoulder and told her it was time to go.

Riku looked over at Yuffie. He knew who Leon was talking about, and he didn't want it to be true.

**x**-_X_-**x**

"Party time! Yuffie the party girl has arrived!" Yuffie spoke as she ran into Tifa's house with a wide grin plastered across her face. Tifa shook her head in annoyance while everyone else just laughed.

"Give it a break, you just arrived," Leon said slightly agitated. He walked right past her and over to the group of friends. Yuffie followed after him.

"Demyx!" Yuffie jumped up in excitement after seeing him. "I've missed you!" She ran over and wrapped her arms around him giving him a big hug. He smiled and patted her on the back.

"Yuffie, long time no see."

"You got tan, did you have fun in Hawaii?"

He nodded. "With all those hot chicks who wouldn't?" They laughed. After talking to Demyx for a bit she scanned the room to see who else was here. Sora was sitting on the cough chatting with Roxas and Kairi, his girlfriend, was sitting on his lap. Cloud, Reno, and Rude were talking and getting into some kind of fight. Nothing new there. She looked at the sofa and saw Axel, Aerith and Tifa chattering away.

_Axel…_

She frowned at the thought of the last time she saw him. They were all just bad memories that wouldn't leave her mind no matter how much she tried to forget them. She decided that later she'd get him alone and straighten things out.

"Where's Riku?" she asked herself, quite confused on how her friend that came with her with just magically disappeared. "I should go find him-" her thoughts were cut short when she felt a tugging feeling on her shirt.

"Come join us, don't you want to talk to Axel?" Aerith asked smiling. "I'm sure he'd be so _excited_. Don't you?" Not having the choice to decided in the matter Aerith dragged her along over to their circle.

"Hey." Yuffie faked a quick smile at Axel. He turned his head away from her not even acknowledging her existence. "Figures. I knew just knew this would happen!" _He's still mad at me…is it _that_ big of a deal._ "Heh…big baby."

"Remember the time when we all ganged up on Seifer and kicked his ass-" Yuffie didn't hear the rest for she quietly slipped away from them and headed into the kitchen to get something to drink. She didn't trust Tifa or Cloud with that stupid Fruit Punch in the living room.

"The Great Ninja Yuffie shouldn't be worried about this so much…but then why am I?" she asked herself. That wasn't the first time she asked, but it sure as hell wouldn't be the last. Not until she figured out the truth at least.

She opened the fridge and took out some Coca Cola. After drinking it's contents she threw it away in the trash can. "Bear bottles?" _I wonder who'd be drinking at this party?_ But the thought didn't last long when she suddenly felt a cold hand placed on her arms. "Riku, is that you?" She turned around to see Riku, the only guy missing from the party.

"Yeah," his hoarse voice replied.

"You look sick." She took her hand and placed it across his forehead feeling to see if he was hot or not. "You're warm. You should go rest."

He nodded and tried to walk away but lost his footing and tripped, falling on the floor.

"Geez, you're weak." Yuffie grabbed his hands and helped him up. "I'll take you to a room upstairs." She wrapped his arm around her shoulders and up the stairs to Tifa's room.

_Hope she doesn't care that a guy will be sleeping in her bed. Nothing new anyway, right?_

Yuffie gently set him and covered him up in blankets. "Sucks to be you."

"Wait." She looked back and he stared her straight in the eyes.

Sighing, she took a seat down next to him. "I'm **l e a v I n g**, do you understand?" she mouthed to him. She felt like an adult talking to a two year old. And soon enough she'd know he understood, he understood quiet well in fact. Then the beer bottles she saw in the trash can flooded her vision.

She watched as Riku slowly sat up and crawled over to her, hugging her tightly.

"R-Riku? Are you drunk?" Yuffie asked worried as she turned her head away from his face. His constant breathing on her neck was getting a little annoying. It smelled of alcohol.

"No," he replied, running his hands through her hair.

This felt wrong, and she knew it. Yuffie could never think of him this way…he was a dear friend to her and this…this was going to ruin it all because he was drunk and depressed. She still couldn't figure out why he was acting this way. Was it something she did?

"No…stop!" She tried to push him away, but in doing so he only held onto her tighter. "Please…let me go…" Tears were brimming the lining of her eyes, threatening to fall at any second.

A bright light filled the dark room. Standing in the doorway was Axel, breathing heavily. His clothes were ripped revealing his tight muscled chest. It looked like he has a fight with himself. But she didn't have any time to admire, no she was in a bigger predicament. She tried to speak to tell him what was going on, but he seemed to ignore her for his gaze fell to the floor in seconds.

"Axel...it's not--" her voice trailed off when his eyes met hers. For probably the first time in her life, they looked sad and pained. Like he had just been shot in the heart, the hurt never left. "Axel."

After glancing back at her once more he departed, but not before speaking these final words.

"I...never knew you were _that_ kind of girl."

Those last words stung like a needle in her chest. That was the last thing she expected to hear from Axel. Wasn't he willing to hear her out? "No…NO!" She pushed Riku away and ran out the door and outside. She had a feeling he was around here somewhere.

"Axel?" she called, but received no answer. The soft tapping of the rain somewhat calmed her. "Axel?" Walking farther ahead she could see the lone figure of a man walking away from her. It was Axel. The only guy she knew with red, spiky hair.

**Pitter patter.**

He didn't answer, though. Or look back. He just stood there with his back facing her. She couldn't take it anymore.

"Axel!" She bolted over to him and entangled her arms around his waits from behind sobbing into his black cloak. Her fingers were so tight on the cloak that she could feel his body tightening. "What you saw isn't what you think!" She tried to persuade him and tell him the truth, but she received no movement from him. So she decided to tell him the whole story anyway.

"Riku wasn't feeling good so I took him to his room and…and…" She couldn't finish. Her sobbing took over her words. "I'm sorry." She felt Axel's body weight shift and she let go of her grip.

**Pitter patter.**

"I'm listening, I won't fight it anymore." Her puffy red eyes looked up into his soft green ones, she somehow felt comforted. He grabbed her into a hug and lets her sob into his cloak. Even if he didn't know it that was all she needed.

"I'm sorry." Her sobs quieted down to a few tears falling down her cheeks. No more words were exchanged between the two. They only stood there feeling each other's warmth in the cold rain that fell around them. Neither of them bothered to say a word of comfort for just being there was comfort enough.

"Thank you for…always believing in me." He let her go and stepped back a few feet, his gaze turning to the watery ground below him.

"What?" she inquired, slightly confused on what was going on.

"Remember the secret?" She nodded. "We've gone to far. You should know." He continued to back away from her. "I have a disease, Yuffie. One that cannot be cured."

"W-what do you mean?" she asked, fear etched into her words. "What kind of disease!"

"They don't know. I won't live much longer…I have maybe a week or two now." His voice held no sadness, only anger. "I'm the one whose sorry. Sorry for giving you false hopes, false wishes that will never be." He turned his back on her and walked away, not even giving her a goodbye or a hug.

"Axel…" She reached out her hand trying to touch his retreating figure. But he was out of her reach, out of her sight. "Why…what's going on?" She fell to the ground, her head tilted downwards. Tears brimming her eyes and gently falling down. Now she could even hear the rain falling on the cement.

He was gone, just like that.

Like always.

----

A/N: Geez, I don't know why but I just couldn't think of for what to write for that chapter. My whole mind went completely blank. I had to sit myself down and make me write until I really got into it. Hope that never happens again. Anyway, hope you enjoyed.

And trust me, the worst is yet to come. : (

**Chapter 5: **Don't Go

_After the party Yuffie has been in a state of depression. She won't even leave her room...can the words Axel said really hit her that hard? Maybe they weren't meant for anything since the beginning._


End file.
